Group May Buy Complex

Glen Gardens Now Operated By Hud

NEWPORT NEWS — A non-profit company based in California wants to buy and renovate the dilapidated Glen Gardens apartment complex off Chestnut Avenue in Newport News, a local real estate broker said.

Broker John Williams Jr. said he and representatives of Associated Ventures, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in planning and financing low-income housing projects, are trying to arrange for the D.A.C. Memorial Foundation to buy Glen Gardens. D.A.C. has owned or helped develop 19 low- and moderate-income housing projects since it was incorporated in 1988, according to company literature.

Williams said he and Associated Ventures will work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the city to negotiate a sale of the property. Glen Gardens went into foreclosure in 1991 and HUD, which had insured the mortgage, took the complex over about a year ago.

"We're just trying to put all the nuts and bolts of a deal together," Williams said.

A representative of Associated Ventures sent a letter to City Manager Edgar E. Maroney in September asking the city to give the proposed deal its blessing. City backing would give the buyers more credibility, Williams said.

But city planning officials said they need more than a single letter before they can decide if the companies involved would be acting in the tenants' and the city's best interests.

Representatives of Associated Ventures and D.A.C. Memorial Foundation would not comment on the project.

"I'm trying to learn more about this," said Paul Miller, city director of planning and development. "We're just waiting to hear from them."

Representatives of HUD and the Glen Gardens tenants association said they haven't heard anything about the plan to buy the apartments.

Williams said more details about the deal would become public after questions about the purchase and rehabilitation costs are privately determined.

"There is a definite interest from this company, but it all depends on how the numbers work out," he said. "We'll be ready to talk about this soon."

Bruce Greenawalt, a senior realty specialist with HUD, said his organization has not set a specific price for the apartments. In January, HUD tried to auction the complex for a minimum of $711,000 but found no takers.

Greenawalt also said HUD could require a buyer to renovate the property, which he said would cost millions of dollars.

Only 108 of the 417 apartments in the project are occupied, Greenawalt said. Some of the empty apartments could be renovated, he said, but some will probably have to be demolished. He added HUD may renovate the complex itself if Glen Gardens cannot be sold in its present condition.

"We want what's best for tenants and the federal government," he said.

Williams said the companies he represents plan to turn the property into a comfortable, safe place to live.